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The Ford switch that almost failed — and the councillor who saved the day

Councillor Peter Leon, appointed to office last fall, agreed to notarize the Fords' nomination papers and in a mad dash had to notarize them all over again to meet a 2 p.m. deadline.

Peter Leon is congratulated last October by Mayor Rob Ford after he was chosen on the third ballot to represent Ward 3 in Etobicoke for the rest of this term. (David Cooper / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

But it’s likely he’s never played a more crucial role than Friday, when his assistance made all the difference for the last-minute Ford ballot switch.

Just after lunch on one of the most chaotic days at city hall in the last four years, the mayor’s office called.

A councillor since Oct. 10, after being chosen to replace Doug Holyday when he left for provincial politics, Leon is authorized to act as a notary. That means he has the power sign off on important documents — including nomination papers.

There were several such papers — that of Rob and — he was needed to sign on Friday, to confirm one of the most unprecedented moves in Toronto municipal politics.

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Getting the job done involved a last-minute dash to nearby Mount Sinai Hospital on University Ave., where is currently a patient as he awaits a diagnosis on a tumour in his abdomen.

This is the story of how the switch almost didn’t happen.

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“Well, you see it goes like this,” Leon begins.

We basically, around 12:30 this afternoon, when I returned to city hall, the need was determined to sign papers for Councillor Ford and the mayor. And there wasn’t too many other people around I guess, … but someone came and said, could I take care of that?

Reporter: From the mayor’s office?

Yeah, they contacted my office. I said, yeah, I’d be glad to. You know, as a councillor you don’t say no to things like that. You’re a notary. You’re here to serve . . . So when the papers were signed the first time, for some reason they weren’t acceptable — I think both parties were not present. Even though I had notarized them, they had to be redone with people present who witnessed the signing. So then the whole process had to start over again.

Reporter: So you were upstairs in your office?

I was, yeah. And of course … we had to be back here by a certain time in order to meet the deadline. We had to dash over to the hospital, get all the papers signed by the mayor.

Reporter: Did you run over?

We drove over and then we ran in.

Reporter: What was the problem with the first set of forms?

Well, normally when you notarize, you witness it as you sign it. And I signed it and they weren’t there, so it wasn’t acceptable . . . So we had to go back and do it on that basis . . . I went over to the hospital to do the mayor and they found another councillor to do Doug Ford’s papers . . . All I know is that was done when we got back, and we just made it here in time

Reporter: You went up to his hospital room?

He was standing up when we arrived . . . I think it would be a little bit disoriented, and I would be too — because here you are, you’re doing something different than what you thought.

Reporter: Do you know what time today they made this decision?

I don’t know. When I came back at 12:30, and that’s when I heard about it . . . I think it was made very quickly, on a last-minute basis . . . They needed a councillor; I just happened to be there at the right time.

Reporter: Did you ever expect this when you decided to fill in as councillor?

No. You know, I use that expression: I’m living my dream. Folks, it’s happening every day. It really is. I never thought being here would be anything like this. It’s exciting. So now you’ve got to tell the story.

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